Improvement in printing and cutting paper



y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'.I. TAPLEY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRINTING AND CUTTING PAPIER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,601, dated March 4,1862.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be tknown thatI, J. F. TAPLEY, of Springfield, in the county of Hampdenand Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and ImprovedDevice for Printing and Cutting Paper or other Similar Substance at OneOperation; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification.

There are many articles of manufacture in some parts of which it isdesirable to print a design on paper, card-board, or other substance,and then to cut the paper in a form corresponding to the outline of thedesign, sometimes cutting outside the design, making a sheet or cardwith an outline corresponding to that of the design printed thereon, andsometimes cutting inside the printed design, making a sheet with a holecut in lit and having the design as a border around the hole or opening.Of the latter classthe cases are most numerous, as, for instance, papermats for photographs, which generally consist of a sheet of thick paperhaving an oval hole in its center with an ornament or border printed ingold around the opening; also, pages for photographic albums, which aremuch the Same as the above except that they are much sniallerand theopening is not usually oval, as in the mats. The manner of producingthese articles is varied-as, for instance, in the photographiclmats,which are sometimes made by irst cutting the oval hole and then usingthe edge of the paper as a guide by which to draw or rule a line aroundthe hole near the edge of the sheet. Another way is to print the designon the sheet iirst, and then by means of a pattern cut the hole with aknife also, another way is to print on the design as in thelast-mentioned case and then use adie to cut the hole instead of a knifeand pattern. This last method is generally adopted for manufacturing thesheets for photographic albums g but it is a great trouble to place thedie or pattern onto the sheet so as exactly to correspond with thedesign, and when it becomes necessary to produce a great number in aneconomical manner, and consequently to employ cheap help, it becomesimpossible to cut the sheets accurately. Now my device @infimes thisdifficulty by having the @utter attached to the block from which thedesign is printed in such a manner that both operations are performed atthe same time.

In the drawings, making a part of this speciiication,Figure lis a plan,Fig. 2 an end view, and Fig. 3 a section, of my invention of suitablesize and form for manufacturing the sheets for-photographic albums, andconveniently arranged for use in a common printing-press, either hand orpower.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of thefigures.

A is a plate of metal to which the other parts are attached and by whichthey are confined in the printing-press.

B is a cutter or die attached firmly to thel plate A.

C is ablock of wood or other substance having a design raised on itssurface, like type or a wood engraving. The whole or nearly the whole ofthe block inside the engraved designis cutout, leaving it of a suitablesize to just it to the outside of the cutter, which is perpendicular tothe plate A, all the necessary taper to give strength to the cutterbeing made on the inside.

I) D D D are spiral springs inserted between the plate A and block C, tosupport the latter.

E E are stops (composed of aslotted strap attached to the plate A andreceiving a screw inserted in the block C) for holding the block frombeing raised too high by the springs or drawn off by the impression.

F -F is a sheet of rubber inserted between the plate A and block C toallow the block to accommodate itself to any inequality of pressure onits top face.

G is a spring inside the die or cutter to throw out the pieces of papercut from the sheets, and whichwould otherwise accumulate inside thecutter.

The operation is as follows: Having fastened the plate A to the bed of aprintingpress we pass a roller charged with printingink over the face ofthe engraved block, which is supported by the springs D D D D at such aheight above the edge of the cntter as to protect the inking-roll frominjury by coming in contact with it. A sheet of paper is now laid ontothe block and the platen of the press (which is faced with a plate ofcopper or other suitable substance for cutting against) is forced downupon the sheet. The springs D D D D immediately yield and the block Ccomes to a bearing on the sheet of rubber F F. The several parts are soproportioned that when the bottom of the block C comes to a good bearingon the rubber, the cutter comes in cont-act With the sheet, and the cutis made at the same time the impression is taken from the engravedblock. The sheet may now be removed. The core or piece cut out is alsofreed from the cutter by therspring G, so that it can be' convenientlyremoved by hand, or in some styles of power-presses it will fall outwith simply the force of the spring.

In applying the ink to the block the yielding nature of the rollsometimes allows a small quantity of the ink to accumulate on the edgesof the block, and if the die was just as large as the inside of thedesign this ink would get onto the edge of the die and thence onto thesheet. I therefore cut the sheet a little inside the design, allowingthe block toy lit the cutter only at the bearings a a a, and thesebearings do not extend up to the face of the block, as seen in Fig. 3.

Of course this device may be applied to various purposes and in variousWays such as cutting outside or inside of the printed dethe constructionand operation of myinvention, what I claim as new,'and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the cutter or die` B Withthe block C and springs D D,or their mechanical equivalents, when constructedand operatingsubstantially in the manner and for the purpose fully set forth in theabove pde`- scription.

J. F. TAPLEY. Witnesses:

MILTON BRADLEY,

JOHN M. WHIPPLE.

